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Spring

The beautiful weather of this weekend will surely kick off our spring busy season. I can’t wait, it’s been a long winter!

The Virginia bluebells in front of my office window are now in full bloom.

Note the spring beauties and a few dandelion in the lawn in foreground :mine’s not the typical suburban sprayed sterile lawn.

Today I saw the first blossom in my strawberry patch. Spring’s definitely here.

Also today, in my driveway, I spotted this beautiful emerald green beetle.

THIS IS NOT THE DREADED EMERALD ASH BORER! (the adult EAB does not emerge for another two months). And, thankfully, they still have not been found here in Montgomery County, although they are in western PA.

The webs of eastern tent caterpillar are starting to become noticeable on the native cherries in the woods, as well as on the crabapple in my nursery.

I get a lot of calls about ETC, (with people often confusing it with other more destructive pests such as gypsy moth). Don’t let them worry you – they are not going to invade like some of the introduced pests and populations are kept in check by natural enemies such as assassin bugs, parasites and birds. (it’s a favorite food of the Baltimore oriole) I’m not going to spray the ones in my nursery, I’ll probably just destroy the nests before they eat a lot of leaves.

If I’d noticed this egg mass – the things that look like a swollen area on the twig – over the winter, I could have just pulled it off then and prevented its hatch.

Exciting things are happening outdoors every day, and at an especially fast pace at this time of year. I’m going to try to keep you updated with regular posts here on this site, hopefully with some links to more information on some of the topics.